BOXING
Crawford an option as Taylor eyes Edinburgh Castle fight
Josh Taylor is ready to "ride the wave" after becoming the fifth undisputed world champion of the four-belt era – and that could mean facing Terence Crawford and, he hopes, fighting at Edinburgh Castle.
A mammoth clash between Taylor and Jose Ramirez in Las Vegas on Saturday saw the Briton twice knock down his opponent.
Those blows were pivotal in a unanimous but tight points win that saw all three judges score the bout 114-112 in Taylor's favour.
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The 30-year-old protected his WBA and IBF light welterweight titles and added Ramirez's WBC and WBO straps.
Since 2004, only four other boxers have held the four major belts at once – Oleksandr Usyk, Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor and Crawford – and Taylor could now face one of them.
Crawford was the undisputed champion in the same division in 2017 after beating Julius Indongo, before vacating his titles to move up to welterweight.
It is a move Taylor (18-0) could repeat in order to face the undefeated American, who now holds the WBO strap at 147 pounds.
"I think two undisputed champions going at it at 147lb would be awesome, would be amazing," Taylor said.
"I'm not going to be short of options now; every fight is going to be huge. We'll take it and see what comes my way. We'll just ride the wave."
Josh Taylor: The king of the super lightweight division pic.twitter.com/nf8Wyuomzt— World Boxing Council (@WBCBoxing) May 23, 2021
The locations of potential future fights are as exciting to Taylor as the opponents, though.
'The Tartan Tornado' was born in Prestonpans but has not fought in Edinburgh since November 2017.
His place in history secure, Taylor, a Hibernian fan, would now be keen to arrange a title bout either at Easter Road or the "iconic" Edinburgh Castle.
"Now is the time to get that fight at Edinburgh Castle or Easter Road," he said.
"I know Easter Road are going to be up for having me there and they've said it to me a few times.
"But I'd love to fight at Edinburgh Castle. I just think that would be iconic with the castle lit up in the background."
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